From the Ashes
by Manoftyr
Summary: Following the Anime cannon. It's been six years since Maka Albarn first defeated the Kishin and the world now lays in waste. Some great disaster has left the planet in ruin. What happened to the world? Can our heroes who have survived the calamity continue to survive, let alone face this new challenge? Who's alive and who's dead? What caused this? Read on to find out.
1. Chapter 1

I looked out upon the barren landscape before me, took a final drag off my cigarette, and flicked it into the desolate expanse. As one was left with little choice in this ruined word, I pressed on. Fueled by the aching of my limbs and the hunger in my belly I pressed on. My rations were exhausted and my supply of fresh water down to droplets; it wasn't looking good for me, though, I've been through worse. I gazed upward at the night sky and espied the hanging moon, that manic, snickering grin plastered to its stupid face. How I hated that thing. Wrapping my heavy black coat tightly around my weary shoulders and bracing against the encroaching cold I continued my forced march.

There was once a time where this world was blessed with plenty. Dotted with beautiful, mighty cities and teeming with life. But those days were gone. This was a world that laid in ruin, a world that had moved on to something else, something darker. The soil was foul and tainted, nothing green grew anymore. Food was scarce, water scarcer. Any semblance of government or authority or, really, civilization in general was utterly a thing of the past. To think, not but two years ago you wouldn't recognize this damned planet. Heh, damned. An apt word.

_ Guuurgleguurglegruuummmble._

"Wasn't smart of me to part with those rations earlier," I scolded myself.

_ "No. It really fucking wasn't!"_ my sword joined in the scolding from within my mind

"Shut up Ragnarok, I don't want to hear it." I retorted

_"No! No I will not shut up Crona! We're gonna starve if you keep up this goody-goody shit!" _Ragnarok continued.

I ignored him but the truth was Ragnarok had a point, regardless, I still had to do it. That family back there would have starved without them. For me to have done anything less would have been to betray her memory and I completely refused to do that.

_"Those folks are gonna die anyway y'know,"_ Ragnarok grumbled.

"We don't know that Ragnarok!" I scolded.

_"Ch'yea, okay Crona. Just keep on living in pretend town,"_ Ragnarok continued.

"Eh, quit your bitching, I've kept us alive so far haven't I?" I retorted.

_"'So far' Crona. Those are the key words there 'so far'."_

Not wanting to hear it anymore I tuned Ragnarok out. Fortunately, perhaps, I saw a settlement materializing in the distance; at least there was a shot of scoring some food. As I neared I saw it was typical in structure; a mishmash of scavenged parts formed a circular barricade about eight or ten feet high. It was made from various pieces of scavenged scrap metal, tires, lumber and mounds of earth all pounded and fitted together as effectively as one can manage with limited resources. I couldn't see within the circular barricade but I wagered a guess that, given its size, there were about a dozen or so dwellings within. Ever since the collapse of the world and the fall of civilization survivors have had to make due with whatever could be scavenged; very little was left behind after the world moved on.

I took a deep breath and composed myself as I neared; though the years had certainly hardened me, I still got nervous when talking to people. I approached what appeared to be the main gate and I raised the front of my black flat-brimmed Stetson hat to look upward. There, I saw two men standing guard atop the barricade brandishing assault rifles with their business ends now pointed down at me. "Who goes there?!" demanded a gruff male voice.

While such weapons truthfully posed little threat to me I raised my hands nonetheless to demonstrate I meant no harm. "I...I don't mean to impose upon you but I am a traveler dangerously low on provisions, if you would be so kind as to-"

"We only got enough for us and our own," the man on the right cut me off before I could finish. "Back on your way now," he gestured over towards the horizon with his gun.

I took a deep breath and composed my thoughts. "I have skills, and I can offer you payment in labor," I tried to convince him.

"'Ain't about that. We just don't got it! Besides, you're a thin waif of a thing; can't imagine you'd be of much use to us. Now get on outta here." He gestured again towards the horizon, this time more sharply, "I won't ask again."

I sighed. It looked like my march was continuing. "Daddy! Who's that out there?" the voice of a little girl stopped me before I had turned to leave. "Are they hungry Daddy? Didn't Mr. Dan say we'd have enough food to last us the season? You should-"

"HUSH NOW!" The man turned his head to look back over his shoulder and shouted. "Get on back to mama!"

"Hrrmph! Meany!" The girl replied and, I assumed, did as her father bid.

He turned back to look down at me. "I'm sorry," he said with a shake of his head and a hint of resignation to his voice. "Foods scarce, we don't know when we'll find more on a scavenge. We gotta hold on to all we got; it's a matter of looking out for our own. I hope you understand."

He was middle aged with graying stubble dotting his face and chin. His smoky black eyes seemed to be holding back deep sadness. "I understand," I said with a sigh.

As I turned to make my way to leave a second time I was stopped yet again, but this time by a terrorful scream. "RAIDERS!" I heard it come from the opposite side of the barricade wall.

"WHAT?!" The middle aged man exclaimed in horror as he turned behind himself to look. "SHIT!" He exclaimed once more and hopped down with his compatriot to rush over, completely forgetting about me.

Wasting no time, I circled the wall to come round to the other side and in the distance saw what they were talking about. Three figures were approaching rapidly riding on motorcycles adorned with all manner of skulls, spikes and other macabre decorations.

"Dark weapons," I spoke gravely to myself.

As far as I could tell, once the collapsed happened randomly selected people all over the world spontaneously began developing Weapon powers. But, with the ruin of Death City and the collapse of all order in the world, there was no guidance or direction of any kind to be found for them, nor was there any punishment or soul reaping of those who strayed from the path of their humanity and became Kishin Eggs. As a result this new world was quite literally crawling with Kishin Eggs and Dark Weapons whom terrorized the few innocents who were left. They killed and took with impunity from those who had little, if any, means to defend themselves from them and were probably counting on an easy time extorting food, water and even souls from these poor people here.

Unfortunately for them I was here.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! ARE YOU NUTS?! GET OUTTA HERE!" I heard the man from before plea desperately from behind.

I kept my eyes fixed ahead. "Stay inside your walls. It's about to get very dangerous out here," I advised aloud then began my slow walk forward to intercept the trio.

They were hooting, hollering and laughing with such loud obnoxiousness I could hear them from here. As they neared me they immediately pulled off and began circling; I could see the madness and viciousness in their eyes, there was no mistaking it, their souls were corrupted. After a few minutes of this they each stopped their bikes and dismounted in order to surround me, they stared at me, their faces twisted into wicked smiles with pointed teeth showing and chuckling low, chattering chuckles. One was tall, tan skinned, shirtless and bald with beady black eyes, another was pale and thin dressed in leather with long white hair and the last was of medium build and a fair complexion with sandy blonde hair.

"In the absence of Death City, DWMA, Lord Death, or any recognized authority thereof I take it upon myself to sentence you all to death and hereby claim possession of your souls!" I said in as loud a tone as I could muster which, really, was not terribly loud.

The trio responded with more chuckling and continued closing in. As expected.

"Ragnarok," I spoke and he manifested directly into my hand.

"Finally! We haven't killed anything in weeks; I was getting bored." Ragnarok shouted aloud eagerly.

Screaming with blood lust the blonde one charged first, swinging wildly with his left arm which took on the shape of a scythe. With a nimble, yet still somewhat awkward, sudden stagger I ducked the blow. Now enraged he whirled around with his right in the same fashion but I simply raised my left arm stopping the blade dead with the back of my forearm. My assailant looked on in shock and, wasting no time, I lunged with Ragnarok and stabbed him directly through the left breast; a perfect thrust that severed his heart in two. He dropped dead as a doornail and a small pool began forming around where his mouth touched the ground.

I immediately withdrew Ragnarok and advanced on the next closest, the pale white haired one. Scowling with fury he clasped his hands together in a double axe-handle and swung towards me in an arc as his arms transformed into a gigantic war-hammer. As bludgeoning weapons proved a bit more effective than cutting ones against the black blood I played it safe and hopped back causing him to under swing me and miss. His combat inexperience showed as the force of his swing carried him stumbling forward and twisted his head at a very exposed angle. Fully intending to take advantage of this, I raised my arm and brought Ragnarok downward in an arc aimed at the lad's neck.

"NO YOU DON'T!" Came a cry from behind me as something yanked my arm back before I could make contact. A cursory glance revealed my arm had been wrapped in the end of a hooked chain and that it connected to the arm of the final member of the trio. "NOW YOU IDIOT!" He cried at his compatriot.

He again readied his mighty hammer for a second swing, a murderous grin showing on his pointed tooth lined mouth. "You're dead now!" he hissed. I ducked the blow, tossed Ragnarok to my other hand and slashed the end of the chain-hook off my arm prompting a scream from the chain-hook Weapon. "What?!" Exclaimed the hammer Weapon in utter disbelief as he missed a second time.

"Now I've got you," he looked down at the direction of my voice just in time to see me rise from dodging and stab Ragnarok into the dead center of his brow as I rose up. The boy's skull split apart under the force of my thrust and blood, gray matter and eye goop oozed down Ragnarok's edges. He was done. I pulled Ragnarok out of his face with a sloppy _schelunk _noise and turned to look behind at the chain-hook Weapon only to see him rolling on the ground screaming in agony about his hand. I diverted my eyes momentarily to the ground where I had severed the end of his chain and sure enough, there it was; I'd severed his hand with that blow.

I slowly made my way over to him, "never been hurt before have you?" I inquired softly, now standing over him with Ragnarok pointed at his neck. I pulled the brim of my hat low.

He looked up at me, his eyes first starting at my Stetson hat then wandering down to my coat then to Ragnarok and finally down to my boots; all colored black. His eyes lit up in sheer abject horror as though he had made a terrifying realization "you-you're!-"

"Yes. Out in The Wastelands they call me The Man in Black." I spoke as intimidatingly as I could which mostly consisted of a dull monotone while averting eye contact. The hat was quite useful for the latter.

My answer seemed to give him a sense of calm. "Then I was dead from the moment this battle began," he grinned. "Before your black sword takes my soul may I ask you something?"

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

His beady little black eyes lit up. "Is it true that you even _bleed_ black?" He asked excitedly.

"...yes," I answered after a short pause.

His eyes lit up with madness and obsession."Show me!" He demanded.

"Only if you tell me where your hideout is. You're dying here either way and I know your kind has no concept of loyalty," I replied.

He grinned back up at me. "North by North East of here, about five miles out. Now show me!" He demanded, still obsessed, still desperately wanting to see my black blood.

"How do I know you're not lying?" I inquired

"There's a map in the glove compartment on my bike with the location circled," he nodded over at his nearby motorcycle, "check there if you don't believe me." I walked over to his vehicle and checked, sure enough there was a stained cloth map with crude but legible markings.

"How many?" I asked as I walked back to stand over his body.

"About twenty or so. Now are you gonna show me or not?!" He was hopelessly deranged.

I decided to give him what he wanted. Raising my hand over him I slowly brought Ragnarok to my wrist and slit my skin open, the droplets of black blood rained down onto his body.

He watched on in amazement. "It's true," he spoke hardly above a whisper, awed.

"Bloody Needle," I spoke a single command and the black blood droplets all over him immediately hardened into spikes; impaling him.

"Gyurghk!," he choked weakly as blood began to pour up from his mouth. "In...incredible..." he spoke his last words and died with an expression somewhere between ecstasy and insanity.

I let out a sad sigh. Though he was clearly lost to the madness and this couldn't be helped I still regretted the waste of life in this world were so few good folk were left alive as it was. Composing myself I settled upon what needed to be done. "Ragnarok," I began "as these were the souls of wicked men and therefore Kishin Eggs you may consume them."

"Don't need to tell me twice! I'm starving!" Ragnarok replied and greedily began gobbled up the first nearby evil soul.

In truth this was something of a boon, as Ragnarok was bound to me through the black blood his devouring of souls actually seemed to keep me nourished. It did nothing to relieve the pains of hunger, dryness of my throat or rumblings of my stomach, but, it kept me alive. I was making my rounds of the slain having Ragnarok gobble up their souls when I suddenly became aware of someone, or someones, new approaching me from behind. Whipping around I pointed Ragnarok in the direction of whoever it was. Turned out to be the two men from atop the barricade from earlier. "Whoah! Whoah! Calm down!" spoke the older one, his tone was desperate. "My name is Shawn Gray and this here is my son John Gray. I'm the leader of those folks back there, listen, mister ummm-"

I retracted Ragnarok back into my body. "They call me The Man in Black," I replied softly.

"Right then, ummm, mister Black Man. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot earlier so my apologies for that but you gotta understand-" Shawn's tone grew increasingly desperate and tears began to stream from his face. I remained motionless as he spoke, my hat's brow pulled low and my eyes averted slightly towards the ground. Eye contact was still something I just didn't know how to deal with. "More will be coming. When those freaks find a settlement they don't let up, their soul hunger is infinite. I can't protect them from the Raiders and, now I don't know who you are, but you made short work of those three here and I ain't never seen anybody do that before so what I'm asking is..." he trailed off.

As if on cue a gust of wind rolled through and made the ends of my coat dance a bit _"bad ass" _I thought to myself.

He took a deep breath, "I'm asking if you'll stay with us for a time, help protect us until the Raiders get tired of hitting us." Shawn finished hopefully.

"I'll do you one better Shawn," I began and the duo peered at me curiously. "Found out where their camp is from this," I displayed the map. "I'm going to head over there right now and kill them all. They'll never trouble you again."

John's eyes lit up in shock. "By yourself?!" He exclaimed in disbelief.

Again, another gust of wind came and my coat danced in it. I gave my hat a tip and nodded, "yep." _"Very bad ass" _I thought to myself again. I strode over to the thin pale one's bike, a sleek and black model that fit the little motif I've built for myself. "I'll be taking this one, the other two are yours-"

Suddenly a third gust of wind rolled through and knocked my hat off my head. "EEEEYGH!" I screeched in panic, leaping from the bike to dive on the fleeing hat. Clutching my hat close to my chest I began whimpering. "Stupid wind! I don't know how to deal with Mr. Wind stealing my hat! I don't know how to-" I espied Shawn and John looking at me with a mixture of fear and confusion at my sudden descent into panicked, childish whining.

Quickly, I jumped to my feet and cleared my throat "I apologize," I spoke in a calm and dismissive tone as I re-donned my hat to assume my far more bad ass persona. Shawn and John looked at each other nervously as I hopped back onto the bike and revved the engine.

"Listen, Man in Black," Shawn began. "If you do this...when you come back we'll...we'll prepare a feast for you! We don't got much, but, whatever you want, if we can accommodate it so help me god we'll do it!"

I revved the engine a second time. "I like pasta," I paused "spaghetti, ravioli, tortellini; anything like that. I'm not at all picky about how its prepared either. Just not very spicy."

"I'm sure we can work something out." Shawn gulped, "y-you come back alive now, y'hear?" He sounded afraid.

"I plan on it," I spoke one final time, lit up a cigarette, and began speeding off in the direction of the camp. In no time at all they were out of sight. I was once again alone in The Wastelands.

I let out a soft sigh. How could I not do this for these people? To shy from danger would be to spit on her name. She saw past what I was from the very start, thought better of me in spite of it, even after I betrayed them. To turn my back on those in need now would be like betraying them all once again, regardless of whether or not they're even still alive. I flicked the butt of my cig off into the wastes. It was going to be at least an hour before I hit the camp, it was plenty of time to get lost in thought, lost in the memories of happier times. Of before the collapse, of before this world fell into darkness...

*** * * Roughly six years ago * * ***

Maka had defeated the Kishin and all was well with the world. With the help of the power of BREW things were back to normal in relatively short order and though Death City had seen some heavy casualties it was heralded across the world as its savior. Its influence as a world power had never been stronger than it was now. I had been re-welcomed into DWMA post defeat of the Kishin and continued to attend classes, though I was still awkward and fearful, I managed largely with Maka's help and reassurances. Maka. That seemed to be where my thoughts were settling themselves...

"Good job!" Maka slapped my shoulder from behind, startling me from my book. I was sitting on the living room couch and, absorbed in the story as I was, didn't hear Maka or Soul enter.

"Uh!" I jumped slightly at Maka's touch before realizing it was only her. "Good job on what?" I asked quietly while looking up at her.

"Didn't you check the Exam Results posting board? You scored highest on the Advanced Soul Studies written exam! 100%!" Maka plopped down next to me, "and you've only been attending classes regularly for two months! Don't you understand how impressive that is?" Maka continued praising me. Once I had settled in I found that the academic aspects of the DWMA came rather easily to me. I guess, if nothing else, I'd inherited my mother's intelligence.

Soul sat himself in the armchair and turned on the Television. "Ox just about shit himself when he saw," he commented, grinning.

Maka sighed, "guess now I have two people to compete with for top grades."

I hunched my shoulders together and looked down. All this focus on the grades, the competitive nature of it; I just didn't know how to deal with it. I began to stammer out an apology. "S-sorry Maka I-"

"Maka chop!" Maka whacked me on the top of the head with a book. "Dummy," she admonished, "don't apologize for doing well."

"..owwwe," I whined and rubbed the top of my head where she struck.

"You should be proud that you did well. Not sorry!" Maka continued scolding me.

I let out an exhausted sigh, "fine you win. I don't know how to deal with arguing."

Maka stood up, turned to stand in front of me, put her hands on her hips and shot me a dissatisfied glare. "I don't care about being right or 'winning' I want _you_ to feel proud of yourself because _you_ deserve to." She said firmly.

I smiled weakly at that. "I-I'll try," I spoke with the little conviction I could muster.

Maka's disappointed glare gave way to a warm smile and she sat back down to gave me a firm hug. "Just give it time Crona, it'll get easier; trust me."

Shakily I returned the hug, "I...I trust you Maka." She was the _only_ one I trusted.

"Good," Maka replied. "Then trust me when I say that you're worthwhile."

I took a deep breath. "I trust that _you_ believe that, Maka."

Maka let out a sigh and gave a bit of a tight squeeze before breaking off the hug. "Well, I guess for now that's going to have to be good enough." Maka smiled but I could see tinges of sadness around the edges, sadness that belief in myself still didn't come so easily to me. "What're you reading anyway?" Maka inquired and looked over.

"Oh this? It-it's just-"

"Moby Dick, huh?" Maka piqued her brow at me, "you've really been tearing through my collection of classic American literature haven't you?"

I looked down at the book and smiled, "I like reading, but I never got to do it much before now. I guess I'm making up for lost time."

"Where are you up to?" Maka asked curiously.

"I'm right when Starbuck is thinking about killing Ahab," I answered.

Maka's eyes lit up a bit. "Oh you're right before the climax! That's where everything gets _really_ good."

Soul 'tsked "There's no point reading those old stupid books when everyone already knows how they end!" He groaned, "everyone knows what happens; Ahab harpoons Moby Dick but gets dragged under the water to drown. What's the point when everyone already knows the ending? So uncool."

My eyes piqued up, "I didn't know." I said while giving Soul a blank and somewhat annoyed stare.

Soul looked back at me in shock as Maka glowered at him, I had a feeling I knew what was coming next. "IDIOT!" Maka shouted and leaped across the room knocking Soul out of his armchair.

"How was I supposed to know Crona didn't know that?!" Soul hopped to his feet shaking his fist angrily at Maka. "It's common knowledge!"

"Crona was never taught any common knowledge!" Maka shouted while raining down a stream of bonks to Soul's head.

"Agh! Stop hitting me!" Soul yelled at Maka.

I let out a sigh. This was probably going to go on for awhile and the noise was making it difficult to read so I put the book down. It didn't really bother me knowing how it ended and, to be honest, it was pretty obvious it was going to end some way like that. Besides, I was learning it was really the journey of it all and the sense of escape I enjoyed the most and knowing the end didn't really interfere with the experience.

"Now apologize!" Maka bellowed while dragging Soul over in a headlock, still whacking him on the head.

"It's fine Maka," I began. I took a deep breath before I continued, "Soul didn't do anything wrong. Just, no spoilers okay?"

Soul leered up at Maka who released the headlock at my words. "You got it!" Soul said with a grin and thumbs up. "Sometimes I forget you didn't have a normal life so there's stuff you don't know," he offered up as an explanation with a shrug of his arms.

Maka looked a little embarrassed at herself and gave a short laugh. "Sorry Soul, I just-"

"It's cool," Soul cut her off and gave a wave of his arm. "You just go a little overboard with being protective sometimes." 'A little overboard' was something of an understatement when it came to Maka's protective instincts towards me.

The blonde Meister gave a sigh, "whelp, I guess I might as well get started on dinner seeing as its my turn tonight-"

"Dinner? DINNER?!" Ragnarok rose from my back and exclaimed in excitement, interrupting Maka. "Please tell me Maka is making it! Soul's cooking tastes like poop!" Ragnarok blew a large, obnoxious raspberry in Soul's direction.

Soul's eyes narrowed at Ragnarok, "why you!" He growled angrily and lunged in at me grabbing Ragnarok by the neck. I let out a heavy sigh and hung my shoulders in resignation as Soul wrang my Demon Sword spirit's neck."You don't have any taste you stupid sword!" Soul ranted angrily as he shook Ragnarok back and forth; his tongue hanging out comically as Soul strangled him. "How dare you sit there and insult me you useless freeloader! You're a good for nothing! The only reason we tolerate you is because you're stuck to Crona! You-"

" Maka Double Chop!" Maka brandished two large textbooks and gave both Soul and Ragnarok heavy whacks on their heads, breaking them up. "If you two idiots are done I was about to ask you what you all wanted," she asked annoyed.

"Something SPICY!" Ragnarok cried excitedly, raising its arms into the air and flailing them about.

"No!" I whined, "nothing spicy." I insisted.

"Maka can make mine spicy!" Ragnarok retorted.

"It may go in _your_ mouth but it goes into _our_ body. Nothing spicy." I continued insisting.

"But-but," Ragnarok whined and began flailing its arms at my head "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!-"

"BECAUSE IT MAKES ME SHIT BLOOD!" I shouted and uppercut Ragnarok in the jaw.

There was a dead silence for a few moments as I pieced together exactly what I just did. Both Maka and Soul were staring right at me. I was incredibly embarrassed.

"Nice job saying that out loud dufas!" Ragnarok teased as it rubbed its jaw, or, what passed for a jaw on its featureless head.

Finding myself thoroughly humiliated and extremely annoyed I picked my book back up and resumed reading. "It's up to Maka; she's making it," I said lowly, almost growling.

Ragnarok wasn't going to let up on this. "Because you know, now everyone knows you poo blood sometimes-"

"Shut up Ragnarok." I interrupted, not bothering to hide the irritation in my voice.

Ragnarok pressed on. "You should probably see a doctor about that by the way-"

"Shut up Ragnarok!" I repeated, louder this time.

"Because it can be sign of a serious medical condition-"

"SHUT UP RAGNAROK!" Maka had finally had enough and, swinging a large club she pulled from who knows where, gave Ragnarok a powerful crack over the head.

A large bump formed on Ragnarok's head and swelled up as tears began to pool under its eyes. "Nyuh-nyuh-BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Ragnarok began wailing and shaking its arms. "WHY'D YOU HIT ME?! He shouted at Maka who had now folded her arms angrily.

"Tease Crona again and no dinner for a week!" Maka threatened.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, jeez, it's not like I'm the one who said that out loud." Ragnarok rubbed the lump on its head. Ragnarok looked about the room at Maka and Soul's angry glares, "alright I get it. I know when I'm not wanted," Ragnarok huffed in a faux offended manner and retreated back into me.

"Dumb sword," Maka grumbled.

"You know, ever since we went to Italy I've been craving pasta, how about those ravioli we've got in the freezer?" Soul interjected, returning the topic of conversation to food.

My eyes lit up a little at that, I've always loved pasta. "I'd enjoy that too, actually," I smiled at Soul who beamed a smile back at me.

"Okay, sure I can do that!" Maka replied happily.

"Just make sure to put some habaneros in the sauce!" Soul teased and his grin took on a wicked quality.

I glowered at him, "you are sworn to secrecy on everything you just heard!" I grumbled.

"Relax, relax," Soul made a zipping motion over his mouth. "Not a word."

"Good," I closed my book pointedly and stood up. "Because if you say anything to anyone about that," I leaned in close to Soul's face while making the same crazy expressions and eye movements I used to. "Wh-why I'll just have to cut all your skin off," I cooed in a sing-song voice with a manic grin.

Soul immediately backed up at my sudden shift in mannerisms, clearly unnerved. "Whoa! Take it easy!" He spoke with alarm.

"HAHA!" I pointed and laughed in his face. "Scared you there for a second, didn't I?" I chided, now sporting one of my rare grins.

Soul looked at me dumbfounded for a moment before breaking out into a big smile. "Well I'll be damned! Yeah you got me, you totally had me going! Really cool!"

Maka stifled a giggle. "See? You're getting the hang of loosening up," she pointed out.

"Yeah...I guess I am," I smiled at her.

And so we laughed and we joked and we ate until our bellies were full. It was a good day and I would enjoy many more just like like them during my time with Maka and Soul.

*** * * Present Day * * ***

The camp was looming in the horizon, no more time for pleasant memories. It seemed fairly typical, I could see what appeared to be a circle of tents around what I assumed to be a fire pit in the middle but it was hard to tell from this distance. I reached into my pocket, pulled out a cigarette and lit up with one hand as I drove with the other.

By the time I finished it I'd be close.


	2. Chapter 2

I finished my cigarette and, sure enough, I was closing in. It was the dead of night, starless. That grinning moon still gazing down on the earth with its snickering psychotic stare. I truly, _**truly**_, detest that thing. My reminiscing had stirred my heart with the memories of her. The only period of my life when I was happy, but I needed to kill those feelings dead right now. I needed to harden my heart, needed to focus on the grim task at hand.

"_I think you're about to get us killed, Crona._" Ragnarok whined from within my mind.

"Quit complaining!" I scolded. "I've fought worse than these chumps."

"_Never twenty at once!_" Ragnarok retorted. "_And Raiders always send their youngest and weakest out first! The ones in the camp are going to be a lot stronger!_" Ragnarok continued.

"Maybe you're right. Oh well," I spoke dismissively.

Ragnarok groaned. "_You know __**damned**__ well that this is all stupid!_" my sword shouted. "_You've been doing this shit for the past two years and you haven't made any difference!_"Ragnarok gave an exacerbated sigh. "_Another camp will just move in and terrorize those people all over again after you move on. There's no point to any of this!_"

I couldn't help but admit to myself that Ragnarok, yet again, had a point, but, deep down this wasn't really about making a difference. This was about something else; a promise I had sworn to keep.

"Maka, I'll never let you down again." I said to myself, ignoring Ragnarok.

"_YOU'RE STILL ON ABOUT THAT DUMB COW?!_" Ragnarok exclaimed. "_Face facts Crona! It's been two years and you're found __**nothing**__; she's dead! They're all dead! And the only reason you're alive is because we were smart enough to get out of dodge before Death City, and evidently the world shortly thereafter, went Helter Skelter_."

I continued to ignore Ragnarok and focused on what was ahead of me. I didn't want to hear it. Didn't want to face what was probably the truth.

"_Just gonna ignore me now, huh? Real mature of you Crona. But you know I'm right._" Ragnarok grumbled.

We rode on in silence until I was just beyond a stone's throw from the camp. _Alright, that's close enough_ I thought to myself and dismounted the bike. I wanted to maintain an element of surprise when I attacked. Depending on how strong this particular Raider tribe of Dark Weapons were it could make the difference between victory or death. Slowly, stealthily I approached until I was in range.

"Ragnarok," I extended my hand and, with a reluctant sigh, he materialized into it. I planted the tip of his blade into the ground "Screech Resonance!" Ragnarok emitted a piercing howl that echoed across the barren Wastelands. The camp quickly sprung to life with activity as Dark Weapons mobilized in my direction. I lifted Ragnarok above my head and waited.

"What are you waiting for?!" Ragnarok demanded.

"Wait for it," I answered. More and more were mobilizing in my direction.

"They're gonna spot us!" Ragnarok was freaking.

"Wait for it," I repeated. They inched their way in the direction of the scream hesitantly, they scanned the blackness for any sight of what it might be. Fortunately I was well camouflaged for what I had planned.

"We're gonna get ki-"

"NOW!" I cried as just enough of them crossed the threshold of being in range. "SCREECH ALPHA!" I let forth the black mouth of the attack with a mighty slash and before they had spotted it or knew what hit them it had exploded in the dead center of the approaching group of eight. The three at the core of the blast were killed outright; blown into chunks of gore. But the rest, though scattered by the force of the explosion, only sported minor wounds. Sensing my moment I charged.

"Wait! WAIT! What are you doing?!" Ragnarok pleaded in confusion.

"Too scattered for another Alpha!" I shouted to Ragnarok as I neared the downed Dark Weapons. "Gotta finish em off at close range!" I continued, kicking one of my downed adversaries into the air then beheading him in a fell swoop. Another to my flank was beginning to rise to his feet but I quickly spun and slashed his throat open before he could gather his bearings.

"We can just retreat back to the shadows and keep blasting away though!" Ragnarok continued pleading as a third rose from the ground and, stunned by the blast as he was, took a clumsy swing at me with a scythe arm. I knocked the blade away with a swipe of my forearm, lunged, and got him square in the face skewering his skull.

I withdrew Ragnarok with a sharp _schlunk_ "no good. That attack definitely gave away my position, they'll flank me if I try it. Gotta stay mobile if we're gonna survive this." I explained as the last two of the advance group of eight charged me together from the rear. As I whirled 'round to intercept they formed their arms into weapons, a hook and a sword weapon respectively, and swung at once. Grins of evil formed on their faces as their blades cut into me but that quickly changed into looks of confusion and astonishment as they saw what little damage their blows seemed to have done. "Bloody Slicer!" I called out and the streams of black blood they freed from me transformed into blades. The blades, carried both by mine and Ragnarok's wills and the momentum generated by their own strikes, arced beautifully and curved right into their necks slicing through.

As the last two fell I observed the camp to see that they were filing out from the east and west ends and circling around to my position. Left with nowhere else to go I charged straight into the heart of the camp. Conspicuously, there seemed to be no one within to stop me from-

"DEVIL'S SWIPE!" A deep and powerful voice cried as an enormous sword slashed into the ground before me creating a strong wind gust knocking me back. A low and rumbling chuckle echoed from just beyond the blade as its wielder stepped out from behind the cover of an adjacent tent to stand before me. He was a huge man, red skinned, covered in rippling muscle with long fiery-orange hair. Tall too, much taller than my not inconsiderable height, and at least four or five times again as broad. His face was covered in all manner of pointed black markings and his eyes were like smoldering craters; smokey and completely black; no iris or white of the eye. His jaw was broad, his chin sharp and pointed; dotted with a small devilish beard and aside from a pair of white tartan trousers secured by a red belt he wore no garment nor adornment.

As soon as this man appeared the sounds of chaos and panic suddenly stopped. The camp was now eerily quiet. Knowing that if I was to be held here I'd be surrounded I attempted to charge past. Quickly intercepting me, the huge red man gave me a stiff shove, knocking me onto my ass. He wasn't just strong, but fast as well. The giant gave a wide grin revealing his pointed teeth. "I am called Yuura," he spoke in a voice so deep it sounded as though he spoke with the rumblings of the earth itself. "Who, may I ask, dares to bring war upon the Freemen?"

As the large man began his speech I sensed a multitude of presences gather around me, I glanced around to see that the entire camp had us circled but were giving up a healthy berth. I counted far more than twenty. Fucker lied to me, stupid on my part trusting him. "Freemen?" I inquired as I rose to my feet. I was in a tight spot, no question about that.

Yuura gave a low bassy chuckle. "We observe no laws and hold no right sacred beside that of might." The huge red man lifted his arms and projected his voice, "we are free from the restraints of feeble order; we take and do as we please by virtue of strength alone! We are what those with the blood of Weapons were always intended to be without the meddling restraints of Death and his wretched Academy!" Yuura spat, "WE ARE FREE! FREEMEN!"

"FREEMEN!" Came a chorus of cries from all around as Dark Weapons raised their fists and shouted in unison.

Yuura beat his chest proudly. "This new world was delivered unto us to be as a paradise! Where we; the hunters, are free to prey on the feeble souls of a failing humanity!" he roared prompting a second chorus of cheers. Yuura Planted his sword vertically in the ground with hands rested upon its pommel and gave me a sneer, I took the opportunity to get a better look at it. I could see it was curved like a scimitar only far greater in size and, save for its decorative gold pommel, blood red in color. "I ask again; who are you that so clearly welcomes their own death to challenge us?" Yuura's voice was saturated with contempt.

I felt fear rising within me but I stifled it, shoved it back down. Maka defeated the Kishin, she wouldn't be afraid here. Summoning all the bluster and bravado I could I stared Yuura straight in the eye. "I am the last bastion of justice in the Wastelands! I am what now exists in place of Lord Death, DWMA, Death City or its Meisters! I bring destruction upon _any_ who would dare harm the weak and innocent of this world." I drew Ragnarok and held him threateningly at Yuura "they call me The Man in Black! You may have heard of me!" I shouted.

There was a pronounced silence from the gathered as Yuura scratched at his chin idly with his left hand. "The Man in Black, eh? Is this what Crona; Demon Swordsman, son of the witch Medusa has taken to calling himself?"

A pang of terror ripped through my heart. My eyes went wide. "H-h-how do you know all that?!" I demanded, gesturing again with Ragnarok in Yuura's direction. I heard murmured chuckling come from the Dark Weapons surrounding us.

Yuura gave a confidant "hrrmph" and leaned forward a bit on his sword. "I make it my business to know what's going on in my lands and I claim all the Wastelands for my own. You've made quite a name for yourself among us over the years; but it ends tonight Crona. You're going to die. Just bad luck on your part showing up while I was here." Yuura glared down at me.

I couldn't hide it; I was petrified. Who was this guy? How did he know who I was?! My arms were shaking; I could barely hold Ragnarok straight.

Yuura laughed, obviously sensing my fear. "Who'd have thought the spawn of Medusa would grow up to be a goody two shoes LITTLE VIGILANTE!" Yuura screamed and without warning let forth with a mighty horizontal slash of his blade at astonishing speed slashing me deep across the chest. I tumbled backwards from the force of the blow as Yuura leisurely made his way towards me. I tried to rise to my feet but I felt weaker than usual and that's when I noticed it; I was still bleeding. I lowered my hand to the area of the wound and sure enough it was wet. My hand was covered in freely running black blood. Cries, laughter and words of encouragement all directed at Yuura rang through the surrounding throng.

"...it won't harden...IT WON'T HARDEN!" Ragnarok screamed in terror. "I CAN'T STOP OUR BLEEDING! WHAT IS THIS?!"

Yuura chuckled once more as he strode over to stand above me. "Allow me to introduce _**my**_ Demonsword: Apocalypse," Yuura spoke as he pointed it down at me.

My fear grew a thousand fold at his words. "No," my voice was choked with terror. "That's impossible!"

Yuura smirked down at me with arrogance,"oh it is very possible. Ragnarok isn't the only Demon Sword around anymore and you're not the only Demon Swordsman; Crona," Yuura stated plainly. "I understand how your black blood works and Apocalypse's own Demon Sword wavelength is similar enough to Ragnarok's where negating his, and your, ability to manipulate the black blood was just a matter of contact. This battle was decided with that first attack I'm afraid," the giant red man was exhuming confidence. Terror gripped my every bone, every muscle of my body, every fiber of my mind. This was it. I was going to die here.

"We're fucked Crona." Ragnarok whined in a trembling voice. "And it's all your fault!" He cried.

Yuura raised his sword overhead, "yes indeed, you are both quite 'fucked' as your sword put it. Farewell Crona; Witchspawn of Medusa. Your journey ends here...die." Yuura brought Apocalypse down in a two-handed overhead hew aimed directly for my head.

I was done. There was no way I was surviving this. Another Demon Swordsman? I don't know how to deal with that! I can't beat someone like that! I can't-

"NO!" I shouted aloud to stop my own train of thought. I raised Ragnarok to stop the killing blow and held Yuura at bay. "I'M NOT DYING HERE!" I screamed into Yuura's face as our swords locked.

"RAWWWRGHHHHHH!" Yuura roared and forced down with all his might. He was so much stronger than me, I couldn't hold him back for long, I needed to get out from under him somehow. Thinking quickly I shot my leg out and kicked his knee, "augh!" Yuura groaned and stumbled off balance. That brief moment was all it took, I broke off contact, rolled out and hopped up to my feet. I whirled round to lash out with a slash at Yuura but he was right there to intercept me with Apocalypse.

" "Screech Resonance!" " We cried at once as our Demon Swords locked again. Ragnarok and Apocalypse let out piercing wails as both souls attempted to overpower the other with their own vibrating resonance.

"I'll never give up," I hissed as I locked eyes with Yuura. The piercing wails of our blades echoing in the background.

"It's futile!" Yuura roared, "you're hopelessly outclassed without the black blood."

"Maybe. Maybe not," I retorted. "I'm stronger than you think!" Feinting, I pulled Yuura back and rolled to his flank. Gripping Ragnarok in two hands I shouted,"Ragnarok! Dual Wield Mode!"

"I hope this works!" Ragnarok cried as he split into two broadswords.

"DIE!" Yuura growled as he spun to his flank with a diagonal slash. This time I parried with my left and lunged towards his face with my right. Yuura's eyes went alarmed as he saw the blade moving towards him and narrowly swiveled his face out of the way; caught his cheek though.

Yuura lifted his hand to the slash on his cheek and inspected the blood. His face contorted into a snarl as his eyes narrowed upon me. "You're being very annoying," he growled.

I assumed a defensive stance and lowered my center of gravity. "I'm not losing to you," I said gravely.

Yuura's eyes narrowed upon me. Lifting Apocalypse over his head he came down with a second overhead hew. This time however I deflected the blade off to the side just enough to spin out of its way. He came at me again, this time with a horizontal slash, but again I parried it; blocking it with my main blade then spinning and knocking it away with the other. Yuura was getting visibly agitated. Maybe if I could just keep my defense up like this I could frustrate him, get him to make a mistake. It was worth a shot.

"Having some trouble hitting me?" I chided.

Yuura returned my taunt with a stern glare. "Men, I'm about to get serious so you may all want to clear out." At Yuura's words the Dark Weapons watching us hurriedly gave us an even healthier berth, some even taking cover. "Apocalypse; Screech Resonance," Yuura spoke as Apocalypse let out another blood shattering screech. I braced myself for some kind of impact as Yuura swung Apocalypse at me in a horizontal arc, "Devil's Cleave!" He bellowed as a large mouthed red wave, similar to Ragnarok's Screech Alpha, careened towards me. The attack was so fast, no way I could get out of the way in time. Doing the only thing I could think of I raised both swords in an X before me to block the impact.

It didn't work.

The force of the Devil's Cleave knocked my arms aside and cut into my chest with another deep wound. I felt my arms go limp at my sides but somehow,__somehow, I managed to keep my grips on Ragnarok. I went lightheaded and, try as I might, I just couldn't stay vertical; with a sudden stagger backwards I thudded to the ground on my back. I coughed, the black blood poured up through my mouth and covered my jaw. I heard the low rumble of Yuura's laughter growing nearer and soon he appeared in my field of vision, looking down from above me, grinning like a madman. "Foolish boy," Yuura taunted, "you put up a good effort but in the end, like all who have refused their inner beast you are _nothing _compared to me!" Yuura roared and delivered a powerful kick to my ribs sending me tumbling through the camp, back towards its southern edge.

I struggled to move but I just couldn't; every fiber of my body was spent. Laughing wildly, the red giant came stomping after me and unleashed another kick launching me out of the camp and back into the barren night bathed Wasteland. I barely managed to lift my head to see him following at a leisurely stroll. Yuura lifted me by the front of my coat and, with one arm, hoisted me into the air; his other reeled back to strike. "I'm going to take my time with you," he gave a sadistic grin as his fist approached me with blinding speed.

In that instant I saw it all flash before my eyes, my training, how much I improved, how hard I tried and how I almost gave up...

*** * * Roughly six years ago * * ***

"M-m-m-Mr. Mifune?" I cautiously entered the DWMA Dojo and addressed the new instructor.

"Hrmn?" Mifune vocalized. He was sitting in the middle of the Dojo floor idly chewing on a piece of reed. He looked me up and down; seizing me up.

I gulped. "P-professor Spirit told me to report to you today for private lessons," I said softly.

Mifune gave a light head bob. "Oh right," slowly, almost lazily, he rose. "Okay then. Show me your stance." I looked back at Mifune confused. "How you hold and stand with your sword," he clarified.

"Oh...okay," I brought Ragnarok out and held him in front of me in my usual manner.

Mifune looked me up and down. "You're using a European style; German school if I'm not mistaken?"

I looked at Mifune blankly as I had no idea what he was talking about. "I don't know about any of that. I just know this is how Medusa taught me to hold a sword," I spoke meekly and quietly.

"Ah, right, you're the witch's kid. Makes sense, most witches trace their origins back to that part of the world so she was probably just teaching from what she knew." Mifune theorized out loud. "Well, in any event, you can put your Demon Sword away. You're going to be using a regular one when you train."

I panicked. A regular sword? But I'd only ever used Ragnarok before. I didn't know how to deal with using a regular sword.

"Suits me fine!" Ragnarok exclaimed at Mifune's words as he morphed from his sword into his soul form. Ragnarok let out an exaggerated sigh of exhaustion, "I'm tired of doing all the work." Ragnarok gripped his chin in contemplation, "besides, maybe if you get better at swinging me around I won't have to be saving your skinny butt all the time, huh?" he playfully pulled at my cheek.

"Owwwwe, cut it out," I whined as Ragnarok disappeared back into me with a cackle. Mifune watched all of this quietly. He seemed interested in how I was going to react. With hunched shoulders and my eyes averted to the ground I slowly approached him. "I'll try," I said meekly.

Mifune retrieved a broadsword from the weapons wall. "Here!" he called out and tossed it to me, or rather, tossed it to my feet. Mifune gave me a bemused expression. "You could've easily caught that," he admonished. He was right, if I wasn't so scared right now catching that out of the air right then would've been a snap.

I fidgeted and hugged my shoulder. "Sorry," I continued speaking in a meek, soft tone.

"Don't apologize. Now pick it up and let's get started," Mifune said as he approached me and assumed a fighting stance.

Without a word I bent down to pick up the sword. It was much heavier than I was used to; Ragnarok was almost weightless. I cautiously held out the sword in front of me but I was visibly shaking. It was heavy and holding it out like this was hurting my arm and I'd never used one before and it-. Before I could even finish my train of thinking Mifune had already dashed forward and knocked the sword out of my hand and onto the ground.

"You need to pay more attention. Now pick it up again," Mifune's tone remained calm yet authoritative. I hesitated to pick up the sword, I was shaking in abject terror. Mifune turned his side to me and looked me up and down a second time, he still seemed to be seizing me up. "Go on. Pick it up," he repeated. Still trembling, I bent down to pick up the sword again. Mifune stalked around to my flank and again turned to face me, "this time I want you to come at me." I gazed back in horror at Mifune's words. "Don't be scared Crona, just come at me," Mifune spoke in a relaxed tone.

Hesitantly, I raised the broadsword in front of myself and took a deep breath. Calming my fear I charged and went in with a thrust...which Mifune immediately sidestepped and brought his katana to rest on the back of my neck, "dead." He spoke.

Now I was getting a little irritated. "That wouldn't have killed me," I pointed out. "The black blood would've stopped it from severing my head, then Ragnarok would've healed me," I continued.

"So you'd rather rely entirely on Ragnarok's power than your own skill?" Mifune withdrew his katana.

I frowned and looked towards the ground, "I don't have any skill." I whined. "I'm not all that good at anything and the only reason I'm here is because Lord Death is trying to find something for me to do but it's pointless. I don't know how to deal with training. Ragnarok's power and the black blood are the only reasons I'm at DWMA," I continued.

Mifune sheathed his katana with a 'hrrmph' and turned his back to me. "Well, if that's how you feel, then this is pointless. Go."

I gazed at Mifune's back. "You heard me Crona. Go. I'm not going to waste my time trying to teach someone who's not interested in trying." Mifune spoke scornfully.

"I am trying!-"

"No you're not!" Mizune snapped and turned to face me angrily. "You're barely committing to your strikes, you were hardly paying attention before and the mere weight of the blade is proving to be too much for you. Your Demon Sword is completely right about doing all the work but you're perfectly content with that because it's easy. Just get out of here!" Mifune pointed at the exit.

I started sniffling, not because he yelled at me but because he was right. Mifune was completely right. I had intended to throw this from the beginning because I'd already decided it was going to be too hard. I'm just so goddamned weak!

Consumed with embarrassment and a healthy dose of self-loathing I ran from the Dojo. I could've sworn I heard Mifune sigh as I did, but I didn't care. I ran and ran and ran covering my tearing eyes with my arm as I darted through DWMA searching desperately for a secluded spot. People were staring at me and giving odd looks as I passed. They all thought I was weak, I knew they did; they had to because I am! Finally I found a secluded corner in one of the many hallways, good, I always liked corners. No one can surprise your from a corner; they're safe. I huddled up, placing my back to it and curled into a tight little ball. Here I could just shut everyone and everything out.

"I'm just no good," I sobbed while hugging my face as tightly as possible into my knees. "I don't know how to deal with anything. Everything's so scary. I'm just too weak." I hugged my knees tight and tucked my head, pulling myself as much into a ball as I could. "I don't wanna see anything, I just want to-"

"Crona!" Came a distant shout followed by quickly approaching footsteps. "There you are!" the voice was now directly in front of me. It sounded like Maka but I couldn't be sure, then, I felt a tender hand rest on my knee and felt more assured. "Crona. It's me; it's Maka." Slowly, I lifted my head up from my knees and through my teary eyes I espied her tender face and no longer felt so alone. Maka made a point of maintaining my eye contact, "I came looking for you as soon as I heard you were running through the halls crying."

"...h-how'd you know," I barely managed to squeak out.

Maka gave a bit of a sad smile. "Word travels fast, y'know?" She gave a little shrug. I slowly looked around and realized a crowd of about thirty people, students and instructors, were all looking at me. "You did make a bit of a scene," Maka added nervously.

For a moment there I thought I was about to die from sheer embarrassment when a single voice cut through the tension. "Alright, there's nothing left to see here." I heard the distinct squeaking of wheels as Professor Stein rolled through on his office chair. "Everyone, back to your classrooms now." Professor Stein spoke and, with that, the crowd began dispersing."Everything okay over here?" He asked as he wheeled around to Maka.

"It's fine, I'll make sure he gets on back," Maka answered confidently.

"Good, I'll leave it in your hands then. As for you," Stein rolled around to get a better look at me, "I expect to see tremendous improvements in your swordsmanship. All the instructors and Lord Death agree; you're far too intelligent and talented to be swinging Ragnarok around like a brute the way you do. Mifune will be a perfect teacher." I shied away from Stein as he spoke to me, attempting to avert eye contact. He seemed to notice my hesitation but it didn't change his manner of speaking, "worried I hold a grudge?" he asked outright. I didn't answer but, fearfully, I couldn't help but allow my eyes to drift in Stein's direction. "Well, if that's your concern then it's ill founded. I don't hold what you did against you Crona; I did much worse things than that when I was your age and without having to be manipulated to do them." Stein adjusted his glasses. "Still," he gave a small grin, "I would love to dissect you!"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeee!" I recoiled in terror.

"P-professor Stein!" Maka exclaimed while turning to him in shock.

Stein kicked his legs up and took a laughing spin on his office chair. "Just kidding, just kidding," he assured us. "I'll be going now. I do have a class to teach," and with a mighty shove of his legs Stein was speeding away backwards on his chair down the hallway and around the bend of the edge.

Maka gave an exacerbated sigh then beamed at smile at me. "Come on Crona, let's go," she extended her hand to me.

She had to be kidding. I folded my arms in defiance and looked away from her. "No."

Maka's smile turned from a look of surprise then slowly into a frown. "Seriously?," she asked annoyed.

"I'm not going," I said. I'd made up my mind; a weakling like me didn't belong there.

"Really Crona? You're going to be a baby about this?" Maka's tone was even more annoyed. I said nothing but hugged myself back tighter into a ball. Maka gave an irritated grunt and rose to her feet. "Crona, this is stupid. Now come on!"

I glared back up at her defiantly. "No!" I repeated. What the fuck did Maka know about what I was going through right now? She's always been strong, she doesn't know what it's like to be weak.

Maka glared down at me in silence for a few moments. Then, suddenly lunged, grabbing me by the arm and pulling furiously. "You heard professor Stein," Maka argued as she groaned in exertion with her attempt to budge me. Try as she might, however, I had hunkered down into my corner and moving me from it wasn't going to be easy. "Cronaaaaaaa," Maka whined at me as she continued struggling in vain to move me by force.

"I said I'm not going!" I shouted angrily and yanked my arm back away from her. Maka looked at me in shock, it was extraordinarily rare of me to raise my voice and I had never done so before to her. "I don't care what Professor Stein says; what's the worst they can do? Expel me?! Imprison me?!" I lowered my head back down to its earlier position against my knees and gave a quiet laugh, "they already did that once before anyway."

I heard Maka fall back to the ground with a slump and a heavy sigh. "Crona, what the heck is this about?" she asked.

"Do you think I'm weak?" I asked Maka. It was a pointless question, I already knew the truth but I wanted to hear it from her mouth.

Maka's face lit up in shock,"what?! Crona! Of course you're not weak!" The blonde Meister affirmed.

At Maka's words I turned my face back up sharply towards her with an angry scowl, "you liar!" I snapped at her. "You absolutely think I'm weak! You'd have to be an idiot to not think I'm weak!"

Maka looked dumbfounded. "Crona...it's the truth! I'm not lying."

"YES YOU ARE!" I shouted, I could feel myself getting angrier. Who did she think she was trying to fool? Did she think I was an idiot? "No one as smart as you could possibly think that I'm not weak!"

"But you're not-"

"I bet that's not the only thing you're lying about either!" I interrupted her; I felt my blood freeze over at my dawning realization, I had it all figured out now, how could I have been so blind? Why else would someone as strong and purehearted as her give a shit about someone like me? It had been pity. Nothing more. "You don't actually care about me, not really! Nobody does! You just pity me! You saw me sitting here all pathetic and pitiful and so you think to yourself," I mockingly imitated Maka's voice, "awe look at poor little Crona over there, I guess helping him out would be my act of charity for the day-"

_**SMACK! **_Maka slapped me hard across the face, her expression had darkened into a scowl of intense anger. "How dare you," she hissed at me. I glared back at her in silence. "HOW DARE YOU!" Maka repeated; shrieking. "You think that's all this is? PITY!?" Maka was shaking she was so furious and she glared into my eyes with a gaze so piercing it felt as though she was looking into my soul. Come to think of it she probably was.

Maka gave her head a slow shake at me, tears now welling up under her eyes. "You think that submerging myself in the madness of the black blood; risking my life, sanity and very soul, for a _chance_ at reaching out to you was just pity?!" Her tone was one of utter disbelief.

Shit. I had just screwed up _**royally**_. "Maka I-"

"You think!," Maka interrupted me, her tone angrier now, "that letting the black blood stab me over and over just so I could get close enough to you to hold you in my arms was an act of mere pity?!" Maka's fists clenched into balls, her eyes shut tight and she shouted at the top of her lungs. "BRINGING YOU INTO DWMA! HELPING YOU EVERY WAY I COULD THINK OF! SHARING MY LIFE WITH YOU, CHASING AFTER YOU, VOUCHING FOR YOU, SAVING YOUR LIFE! IT'S ALL JUST _**PITY**_ TO YOU?!" Maka opened her eyes and her expression changed from one of rage to one of profound hurt.

"I-"

"Just shut up," Maka said softly between sobs and with a shake of her head rose to her feet. "I don't want to hear another word. Just do whatever the hell you want Crona, okay?" and with barely contained sobbing Maka turned then fled from me.

I was alone again.

"Oooooooooh, you fucked up Crona! You fucked uuuuuuup!" Ragnarok came spilling out from my back and leaned around to get close to my face. "She's probably never gonna speak to _you_ again. Not after _**that!**_" Ragnarok continued. He gave me a playful knock on the head, "eh forget about her. I never liked that stupid cow anyway. She's no fun! Plus she hits me!"

I completely ignored Ragnarok as I sat there blank and unresponsive for a few minutes before I put together what had just happened. In a fit of a paranoia and anger I had lashed out at the one person I truly cared about, moreover, I lashed out at her _because _she cares about me. Because I couldn't accept that she wouldn't tell me I was weak. How fucked up is that? It's as though, when it boils down to it, all I know how to do is hurt people through my own weakness; even those who show me nothing but kindness. First Marie. Now Maka. It's like I can't help it.

As I sat in contemplation of all this something came over me. I couldn't really describe what it was then as it was the first time I'd ever really felt something like it. Reflecting on it now I think it was anger; anger at my state of inhumanity, anger at my shitty life, anger at being denied a childhood but above all else it was anger at myself. It was in that very moment that I took the first step towards what would ultimately become my transition from that craven little child into the man who would later come to call himself The Man in Black of the Wastelands.

I slowly rose to my feet. "Hey! Where ya going?" Ragnarok asked.

"Back." I answered lowly with my head lowered to gaze at the ground. Slowly I made my way back to the Dojo and luckily for me Mifune was still there, still sitting in the middle of the room, still chewing on that reed. Without even waiting for him to get up I walked over to the weapons rack, grabbed a broadsword and stood before him; my side turned and sword extended. "Draw your sword Mifune," I spoke gravely.

Mifune looked me up and down, his expression as blank and unimpressed as ever. "Gonna run away and cry again?" he inquired with the slightest tinge of sarcasm.

"Why don't you draw your sword and find out?" I growled.

Mifune spat the reed out of his mouth. "Good, that's the attitude I like to hear," the Kensai spoke as he rose to his feet. "Now come at me like you mean it this time!"

Letting forth a scream I swung in an overhead arc directed at his face.

Mifune side stepped and knocked the sword out of my hand with a well placed swipe. "Too slow, try again."

I scooped the sword up and lunged, going in for a stab but Mifune was ready and slapped the tip of my sword away from above, knocking it out of my hand once again. "If you're going to commit to a lunge either be sure it's going to hit, or be ready to withdraw just as quickly," he lectured, "now again!"

Again I grabbed the sword and this time went for a vertical slash aimed at the abdomen. Mifune deflected it with a parry but I shifted laterally to his flank and using my momentum spun into another parallel slash. Mifune parried again, shifted against me to knock me off balance and slapped the sword out of my hand with a vertical slash of his own. Without even waiting for him to say anything I grabbed the sword and came at him again, and again, and again and again and again!

By now I was getting used to the weight of the blade and Mifune was having to work a bit harder to dodge and parry my strikes. I kept up the aggression, swinging with an overhead hew which Mifune parried, immediately, I disengaged and attacked with a vertical slash which Mifune parried only in the nick of time. I began to shuffle my feet as though I was to withdraw and Mifune shifted against me in an anticipation to knock me on my ass; but it was a feint. Instead of withdrawing backwards I spun laterally causing Mifune to stumble forward where he was expecting to shift against me. Now facing his flank and with Mifune off balance I brought my blade down towards the back of his neck in anticipation of finally scoring a point on him. However, in a flash, Mifune ducked out of the way and whirling around to face me cut into the side of my face with a vicious swipe.

It stung a little but I'd suffered worse. Mifune's eyes piqued up a little as he observed what little damage his slash had done and how quickly the black blood healed my wound. "Good," Mifune spoke with a tinge of excitement to his voice, "I don't have to hold back whatsoever when training you; perfect," he added. "In any event, congratulations, you forced me to have to strike to avoid a blow; usually it takes a student several months or even a year of lessons before reaching that point."

"You could've warned me what I was in for," I grumbled.

Mifune cracked the tiniest of grins, "you did say the black blood would heal you regardless earlier correct? I figured this was to be assumed on your part." Mifune drew his blade away and walked back towards the weapons rack. "Also, here," Mifune grabbed a second sword and threw it to me, "I want you to try practicing with two," he said. I looked back at him confusedly. "You're not doing anything with your off hand and, well, while a parrying dagger or perhaps a buckler would be more in keeping with your style of swordsmanship it would be utterly redundant; your black blood is more than a good enough defense." I picked up the second sword as Mifune continued, "typically dual wielding is one of those things that sounds great in theory but doesn't work out too well in practice. The extra coordination and expense in energy used to swing two swords at once is hardly, if ever, worth the benefit but you possess a unique advantage that suddenly makes this all feasible."

"An advantage?" I asked curiously.

"You're not getting tired," Mifune answered plainly. "Given how aggressive you've been with your strikes you should be exhausted, yet there's hardly a bead of sweat on you, nor are you breathing especially hard. If I had to wager a guess I'd say your black blood is far superior in converting and regulating oxygen through your circulatory system, thus your levels of stamina are greatly beyond that of a normal human's."

"YOU'RE WELCOME!" Ragnarok materialized to shout from behind, "still counts as me doing most of the work though!" Ragnarok gave my cheek a pinch.

"Nyahhh, I'd say it counts for half; I'm still the one doing the fighting," I retorted as Ragnarok pulled at my cheek.

"Yeah, and if I weren't here making you super strong and hardy you'd frankly suck at it," Ragnarok pointed out and let my cheek go with a snap.

"Maybe, but you're stuck with me regardless soooo, plfft!" I stuck my tongue out and blew a raspberry in his direction, well, as close as I could manage which was out the side of my mouth.

"Don't remind me!" Ragnarok whined.

"If you don't mind," Mifune began, "we were in the middle of training." Mifune eye's narrowed on Ragnarok "unless of course you're volunteering to take Crona's place here," he pointed his sword at Ragnarok.

"What me?" Ragnarok immediately turned his attention to Mifune and put his little balled hands forward. "I'm good, I'm good" he affirmed while vigorously gesturing for 'no'. "Just keep beating up on Crona here and I'll be hanging back doing the real work; byeeeeeeee!" Ragnarok disappeared back into me.

Mifune wasted no time with Ragnarok's departure. "I've never trained anyone in using two swords before, so this is going to be as new to me as it is you; and I like new challenges." He gave a clear smirk, "now come at me!"

Letting out a cry I charged and swung my swords, letting the momentum of my strikes carry me like a tornado of steel. With slashes, thrusts and parries I pressed on aggressively. I lost track of the hours as I practiced against him and as it passed into night I found I was finally exhausted and could spar no more; even with the black blood my stamina has limits. My clothes sported cuts all over from where Mifune had struck me and though I had not managed to hit Mifune even once I had kept him on his toes the whole time.

Mifune gave a tired sigh. "I think now is a good place for us to stop. Rest up and be back tomorrow; same time, same place," he instructed.

"Yes, I will" I said with a nod and a bow before depositing the swords back on the wall."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Crack! **_Yuura's fist rocketed me back and sent me crashing into the cold, unforgiving and barren earth. "Pathetic whelp!" he taunted. The pounding thud of footsteps let me know he was once again drawing closer. "I'm going to smash your body into paste!" Yuura cried and took a mighty stomp on the center of my chest. I cried in pain as I felt my chest cavity compress under his might. Yuura cackled before he roared and lifted me up overhead. "Then I'm going to mount your head on my wall as a warning to _**any**_ who dare oppose us; that we are here! As masters to rule! This world belongs to us!" he continued with yet another roar before hurling me overhead further into the Wastelands.

As I landed face first with an audible smack I felt my hat tumble off my head and onto the dirt. "...my hat..." I uttered weakly and tried to reach for it; even in the middle of a fight I didn't know how to deal with losing my hat.

"DON'T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!" Yuura screamed and stopped me juuuust short of reaching my hat with a powerful stamp to my arm, however, I noticed something strange...

It didn't hurt.

Before I could react to this I heard Ragnarok hiss sharply from within my mind, _"keep your fucking mouth shut Crona!"_

_"But how?"_

_"This idiot is really over-estimating how long that attack would keep our link neutralized; give me a few more minutes and I'll have us patched back up."_

_ "But he'll know! He'll-"_

_ "Dumbass you're dressed in black and your blood is black; unless he looks really closely he won't notice the bleeding stopped!"_

I thought about that for a moment_. "...Ragnarok sometimes you're a genius."_

_ "Yeah, you're welcome. Tell you what? Thank me after you get us out of this alive." _Ragnarok groaned,_ "to think, that stupid getup of yours might just save our asses here."_

_ "...I think it looks cool-"_

_ "It isn't! It's lame and it's a ripoff of every Spaghetti Western ever. Also speaking of ripoffs, calling yourself 'The Man in Black'? Real original there asshole."_

_ "Hey! It's an homage!"_

_ "Whatever you tell yourself there buddy. By the way big reds been kicking your ass; might wanna get on that."_

I tore myself from my inner dialogue with Ragnarok and refocused on what was going on around me. Yuura was presently squatting over and laying into me with alternating rights and lefts aimed directly at my face. Though Ragnarok was hardening the black blood and protecting me from the brunt of the damage Yuura didn't seem to notice; guy was apparently built like a fucking tank.

"Worthless! Puny! Maggoty! Shrimp!" Yuura sounded off an insult with each blow and with a mighty shout raised both of his fists overhead and brought them down, clenched like hammers upon my breastbone. I laid there motionless, my head to the side. "Hrrmph, pathetic!" Yuura condemned and rose to stand over me. Slowly, Yuura unsheathed Apocalypse form the scabbard on his back and held it out at me.

_"Crona! If he hits us with Apocalypse's wavelength again we're-"_

"You're not the strongest I've ever fought you know," I slowly turned my head up to Yuura with a grin, ignoring Ragnarok.

Yuura tensed up and shot a snarl down at me, "I am the strongest of all!" his voice boomed.

"Nah, not even close," I replied, still grinning. "You wouldn't have stood a chance against her."

Yuura's expression grew dubious, "and who would** that** be?" he demanded.

I gave a strained laugh. "It doesn't matter anymore, she's gone. This ruined world cast the purehearted away; that's why fucks like you and me are still here. You're rat king of the shit-heap. Nothing more."

The Red Giant's dubious glare grew ever more annoyed,"and what would that make you then?" Yuura asked pointedly.

"Oh me? I'm no one special; just the voice of pain, the iconoclast, that silent bastard. But mostly I'm a coward who dares," I explained.

Yuura growled, his irritation levels rising. "Why don't you talk properly? You're speaking in riddles and vague nonsense!"

"You could say I picked it up a long time ago from a guy who, both figuratively and literally, had a screw loose." I laughed again.

Yuura groaned in annoyance and boredom, "I'm tired of the sound of your voice." He began to raise Apocalypse over his head, "I'm ending this now."

I said nothing, only kept grinning.

"What? No more fear? Where's the guy who was shaking so hard he could hardly hold his sword?" Yuura's tone was mildly curious.

"There's a lot of things I'm afraid of; crowds, loud noises, eye contact, failure and losing my hat just to name a few but death really isn't one of those things. My life isn't all that precious to me, not anymore, everything I had to live for is gone." I explained.

_"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" _Ragnarok finally screamed from inside my mind too loud for me to ignore.

_"Buying time for you, idiot! I'm all healed up by now right?" _I thought back.

_ "Yes! Yes you are! We're good to go now and I'd reaallllly like to know why you aren't GETTING US THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!" _Ragnarok exclaimed.

I ignored Ragnarok again as I looked up at Yuura raising Apocalypse over his head. "Farewell Crona, this was fun while it lasted I suppose," he said. Once the gargantuan man had Apocalypse fully extended he brought the blade down towards my prone form in an overhead hew.

In that instant I made my move.

The very second Yuura had exposed his vitals in the swing I hopped into a crouching position and dove forward. I could hear the steely sheen of Apocalypse slicing down from above; every hair on my body stood up on end as I felt its blade graze just over the back of my skull. As I dove I had both blades extended, and directed their points at Yuura's left breast and lower abdomen. The huge man's expression betrayed the sudden terror he felt as he realized what was happening and in desperation he attempted to pull back but the force of his swing carried him forward into my thrusts, impaling him upon my blades.

"PEEE-YOWWWW!" Ragnarok cried triumphantly as Yuura was skewered.

Unable to maintain his grip, Yuura let Apocalypse fall to the ground with a metallic _**clank**_. "Ragnarok! Screech Resonance!" I cried. At my command Ragnarok sounded a piercing screech from both blades resonating waves of sound throughout Yuura's body. The giant went into spasms as blood poured out form his mouth to form a pool on the earth beneath him. He looked down into my eyes with pure shock.

"...how?!" Yuura choked out, raining blood spittle onto my face as he did.

"Ragnarok had been healing me the entire time," I began, locking my eyes with Yuura, my expression cold. "You were overconfident in your ability to nullify the black blood, I waited for my moment and took it," I sharply withdrew my blades allowing the gaping wounds over Yuura's heart and liver to begin their flow of blood. Yuura dropped down to a single knee, lacking the strength to support his grand frame.

"Ragnarok," I spoke, "Zweihander Mode."

"Ooooh! I'm gonna enjoy this!" Ragnarok practically squeed with delight as he transformed into a large and heavy two handed blade.

Yuura eyed Ragnarok's transformation as the blood pouring out from his body and mouth formed a sizable pool at the base of where he was kneeling before me. Gripping Ragnarok in both hands I rested him against the side of Yuura's neck, his eyes still following.

"Bye bye rat king," I sang gently.

I wheeled Ragnarok back over my shoulder and brought him down towards Yuura's neck in a diagonal arc.

*** * * Roughly six years ago * * ***

It was dark out, would've been pitch black if not for the many streetlights that kept Death City lit. 'How long was I training with Mifune?' I wondered to myself, it must've been at least half passed 11pm. I looked out at the many lengths of road extending out before the main DWMA building like a giant spiderweb and settled upon some road I didn't recognize. I couldn't go back to Maka's. No, not after the terrible and stupid things I'd said to her. It was difficult to make out much in the pitch black darkness but I saw a bench down the cobblestone road coming up on my left hand side. Exhausted, I made my way towards it and plopped myself down...and it immediately began to rain.

"Just my luck," I whined, hanging my head. Figures it would start pouring on me. I sat still in total silence reflecting on the darkness around me and my own inner self-loathing before I heard a voice.

"Need a hand?"

I looked up and Mifune stepped into sight from the shadows. _How long had he been following me? _I wondered. In his right hand he held out an umbrella to me and in his left Angela Leon's open palm. "Th-thank you," I gave a timid smile and accepted the umbrella.

"I remember you!" Angela said brightly and skipped up to me. "You were at Witch Mass with Medusa! She's your mommy!" I looked down at Angela, she was smiling up at me. "But you're nicer than she was," the young Witch affirmed and hopped up next to me.

"She's taken a liking to you," Mifune spoke with the tiniest of grins.

"Crona's good!" Angela affirmed with conviction and punctuated with a sharp nod. "Tsubaki and Crona are my favorites!" Angela nodded a second time. Angela frowned, "I don't like Blackstar though! He's a douche!" Angela stuck out her tongue. I continued smiling timidly and held the umbrella close and low. I didn't know much about Blackstar so I couldn't really say, I knew he defeated Mifune and for that he had my respect if nothing else, but I found him intimidating personally.

Mifune ignored Angela's outburst. "Why are you siting here out in the rain?" the Kensai sat on my other side.

The rain kept pouring down on my sad face. "I have nowhere else to go," I answered lowly.

Mifune piqued a curious brow. "Haven't you been staying at Maka and Soul's place?" he asked.

"I can't go back," I shook my head. "I can't because I said some stupid, stupid things to Maka and she's angry with me. She probably hates me now too. Just like I deserve," I hung my head in sadness. The rain kept beating down on me, beating me down lower and lower. Just like I deserved. To be a small and lowly wretched thing.

Mifune let out a barely audible _hrmn_. "What did you say to her?" he asked.

I took a deep inhale then began, "when I first went running from you I cried and Maka found me, then she tried to convince me to go back-"

"But you did come back, yes?" Mifune interjected in mild confusion.

I paused, "...well, not at first," I said ashamedly. "At first I refused then she kept pushing and pushing and then I snapped at her. I told her she was a liar and that she was just pretending to care about me and all she felt for me was pity. They were stupid, weak, self-pitying words."

"But you came back," Mifune repeated.

"Well, yeah but-"

"Come on, let's go to Soul and Maka's together," the Kensai rose and extended his hand to me. The fear and trepidation must've been showing on my face as I hesitated because Mifune immediately frowned. "If this is enough to frighten you to inaction then your journey to the Path of the Warrior will be an arduous one," Mifune spoke gravely.

I gulped, nodded, and gripped his hand to raise from my seat. As we walked I summoned up the courage to ask the question now on my mind, "what's the Path of the Warrior?"

"It is the code of honor and discipline which I live my life by," Mifune spoke as we walked, not taking his eyes from the road ahead. "Part of my hope in being an instructor here at the academy is to instill some of those same values in your generation," he added.

"Cronas gonna follow the Path!" Angela cried excitedly.

"Wh-what?" I turned my head to look over at Angela.

"Prophetic Magic has been manifesting strongly in Angela and she's been seeing you in her dreams a lot," Mifune explained.

"Uh-huh!" Angela affirmed excitedly. "I see Crona but he's taller because he's older and I see Ragnarok and he's bigger too and they're all in black but they're shiny too!" Angela took a deep breath as she was talking very fast then continued, "and in it Cronas a true warrior who's not afraid of anything!"

I had to laugh at that. "Me? Not afraid of anything?" I laughed again, "that's never going to happen."

"It's true!" Angela looked over at me with an angry pout.

"What else do you see?" I decided to humor her.

Angela's expression darkened a bit, she turned her head away from me and looked at the ground uncomfortably, "...nothin," she said softly. Angela's body language gave the strong impressions he didn't want to talk about this anymore.

The rest of the walk was in relative silence, no one spoke much anything meaningful. The many houses and vaguely Gothic architecture of Death City were largely obscured by the dark, all that was really illuminated were the cobblestone roads before us. It didn't take long at all for us to reach the apartment building with the flat Maka and Soul called home; Room five hundred and six. I gulped as we entered the building, myself first, Mifune second and with Angela in tow. Up the five flights of stairs we went until we were right in front of the sixth room, Mifune gave me a look and I gulped again before knocking timidly on the door. I was half hoping no one would answer.

"Who is it?" came a call from the other side. It was Soul.

I calmed my nerves as best I could and uttered a response, "c-c-Crona," I stammered. No answer was given but I could hear some hushed whispers. There was an extensive pause before the handle began to turn, I gulped nervously as the door slowly opened. In the middle stood Maka, she was in her pajamas and her eyes were red and puffy. _Had she been crying?_ I wondered. Soul was off to the side wearing a small scowl upon his face. I started shaking and I gulped again, I didn't know how to deal with apologizing to people. I hugged my sides and huddled over slightly, I couldn't bear to look her in her eyes, "I'm sorry," I uttered. "I was just pitying myself and I got mad at you because you wouldn't feed into it. I'm such a piece of shi-" I was cut off right before I could finish by Maka stiffly grabbing the front of my robe.

"Look me in the eye!" she commanded firmly. Slowly, I raised my face to meet hers. Even red and strained as they were Maka's eyes were so piercing and so, so fierce, the power of her glare was something I just didn't know how to deal with. "What did I tell you about saying bad stuff about yourself?" she scolded.

"S-s-sorry," I stammered out an apology.

Maka's eyes drifted past me, "so he went back I take it?" she asked Mifune.

"I wouldn't be here if he didn't," the Kensai answered plainly.

Maka let out a somewhat relieved sigh, "well, that's what's important," she stated. "Now get in here you idiot!" Maka commanded and roughly pulled me inside and uttering a rushed thank you to Mifune quickly closed the door. I skulked into a nearby corner and held my arms, I was ashamed and exhausted and diverted my eyes away from Maka towards the ground. I didn't know how to deal with Maka being mad at me, I didn't know how to deal with feeling ashamed, I didn't know to deal with apologizing, I didn't know how to deal with the uncomfortable silence. I didn't know how to deal with any of it and so I just huddled, keeping my eyes to the ground, focusing on the floor, trying to imagine I was invisible.

"You must be starving," Maka finally broke the uncomfortable silence. I looked up slowly to see that Soul had left us, I was alone with her, Maka's eyes had softened and she no longer seemed so angry, instead of a scowl she now wore a gentle yet sad smile. This comforted me somewhat, at least she wasn't still glaring; I really didn't know how to deal with the intensity of Maka's eyes. I slowly nodded in response to her but remained silent, "I'll make you something quick then!" Maka smiled broadly but I could still tell she was holding something back, there was something off about her mannerisms but it was confusing and I didn't know how to deal with it, so I just ignored it. I was comfortable ignoring things I didn't understand. The blonde Meister turned and entered the kitchen, "is grilled cheese okay?" she called back towards me, her tone of voice was somewhat strained and sounded more subdued than normal.

"Y-yes," I managed to stammer out, nodding once more. At my words Maka began gathering the bread, butter, cheese and fry pan as I took a seat at the kitchen table and resumed my silence. It wasn't long before the sizzling of the butter and cheese on the bread began to waft its scent in my direction, I began involuntarily salivating at the smell; I was a lot hungrier than I thought.

"WHAT'S THAT SME-!" Ragnarok came erupting from my back and before he could even finish he sentence the still hot frier was thrown directly into his face. "Eeeeeeyoooowwwwwch! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Ragnarok cried as he waved his arms in front of his face. "What the heck is your prob-" Maka threw Ragnarok a glare that could've murdered legions if glares had the power to kill, it was the kind of glare that says to put it bluntly 'I am not having your shit right now.' Without another word to Maka, Ragnarok slowly sank back into me but as he did he gave me a little pat on the shoulder and whispered into my ear, "good luck buddy."

Maka gave a small exhale of relief as Ragnarok disappeared and placed the plate in front of me and, my ravenous hunger getting the better of my timid nature, I tore into the grilled cheese sandwich as though it was my first meal in weeks. As I ate however Maka sat across from me, her head down and eyes lowered towards the table and after a brief pause spoke, "Crona," she began, "why did you say those awful things to me?"

I stopped mid-chew at her words and felt a lump form in my throat, fortunately however, I was on my last bite. I waited for the lump to go away and swallowed my last buttery and cheesy morsel before I answered, "because you were trying to help me," I answered honestly.

Maka kinked her head at me in abject confusion then righted herself, "that doesn't make any sense! Why would you lash out at me because I'm trying to help!" Maka's scowl was returning as her volume raised.

I gulped, I didn't know how to deal with being challenged like this and all my feelings of self-loathing and shame were now returning in force. "You wouldn't understand," I said meekly, "I'm not like you."

"What wouldn't I understand?!" Maka leapt to her feet now, her scowl intensifying further, those piercing green eyes glaring, I felt them stabbing me and with every stab the feelings got worse. It was overwhelming and I didn't know how to deal with it. I felt so many conflicting things; anger, paranoia, self-loathing, terror, weakness, doubt it was all downright paralyzing. "I've shown you NOTHING but kindness! I've proved my devotion to trying to help you! I've-"

"BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE MYSELF!" I couldn't hold it in anymore, all the feelings from deep within my gut felt like they just erupted from up my throat and out my lips and with them carried the pure abject truth. I fucking hate myself.

Maka stopped mid shout, her expression changed. She went dead quiet.

"I don't like myself Maka!" I repeated, "I don't like myself at all! In fact I hate myself." Tears began welling up and forming pools under my eyes that streamed down my cheeks. "And I cannot understand how someone like you, someone so genuinely purehearted could care at all about someone like me. Don't you understand what I am?!" I rose from my seat and grabbed the nearest bladed object, which happened to be a kitchen knife, and plunged it directly through my palm and held it out before Maka's stunned face. I pulled the blade out harmlessly, "my blood isn't red. It's black Maka, it's black!" I gestured with the hand I had just stabbed towards the window in the living room across from the kitchen, "I belong out there Maka, not here, I belong with all the other horrible monsters out there; the things that crawl in the shadows of the night. That's what I am." To be honest this was the first time I'd ever really confronted the root of these feelings or ever really examined what I think of myself on an existential level and it brought me to some really dark places.

"You always tell me to not say bad stuff about myself Maka, but it doesn't change what's the truth!" I exclaimed. "I am a monster. I've killed innocent people, cut them down and devoured their souls, you can say it was Medusa who made me do it but at the end of the day I was the one holding the sword. I could've said no, I could've tried to resist but I'm just too weak." I gestured at Maka with outstretched palms, my face so covered with tears that I could hardly even see her "don't you understand what this makes me? I'm just like all the things that you hunt, I'm no better than the monsters you slay." I shut my eyes and looked towards the ground, "I'm just like my mother, even if I try to fight it it's still my nature. All I end up doing is hurting people no matter how much I try not to." My limbs were trembling at my sides and my headache had gone from a gentle throb to a pounding, I gave myself a self-hug. "I should just go off and die," I uttered, "you'd all be better off-"

I was suddenly cut short by the sensation of a tight embrace around me"...please," Maka whispered into my ear, "no more." I opened my eyes to see that Maka had thrown her arms tightly around me, pulling me close, it was more tightly than she had ever hugged me in the past. I could feel her chest as it thumped against mine, her warm breath passed my cheek, tears ran down from her eyes and dripped onto me. We spoke no words as she held me and I felt myself break down in her arms, as my tears grew even stronger and my head began to throb with a thundering intensity. I felt woozy and began to slump down to the floor but Maka caught me, following me downward to cradle my head against her bosom. The feelings of sheer sadness and pain became an overwhelming torrent, I could hardly form thoughts, and I cried. I cried for I don't know how long as Maka held me there, cradling me, her fingers running soothingly through my medium length locks as her heart thumped against my ear with a constant, rhythmic, _th-thump th-thump_.

"She can't hurt you anymore," Maka finally broke the silence "you're safe here and no matter what you tell me I'll never judge you," as she spoke her soothing words I felt myself finally begin to relax. Maka repeated those same words like they were a mantra and as she did my tears slowed and the pain in my head lessened and once enough of my faculties returned to do so I turned my head up to look at Maka's big, green, sad and loving eyes.

"Why do you care about me so?" I asked.

Maka continued to look down at me with those same sad and loving eyes. "You told me what _you_ think of you," Maka began "now I'm going to tell you what _I_ think of you; Crona. Do you know what I see whenever I look at your soul?"

I shook my head weakly.

"From the first time I saw your soul I was amazed at how gentle it was, so genuinely timid and kind, it was shocking and I didn't quite understand how it was possible it at first," Maka's face suddenly darkened, "until I took in the whole picture. When I touched souls with you I felt every nook, every crevice and I discovered that your soul had been," Maka's expression darkened further still into a scowl of disgust and anger, "that Medusa had fucking _MUTILATED_ it! This pure, innocent, gentle, timid soul that scum like her are not worthy to touch! It made me mad Crona. I've never hated anyone as much as I hated Medusa and I don't think I ever will, all because of what I saw she'd done to your soul."

Maka began tearing harder, her tears dripping down like droplets upon my face. "As I felt your soul I felt every single wound and torment she had inflicted upon you. It was like...pieces of it had been sadistically, painstakingly ripped off and then stitched back on but wrong, everything was wrong! It was all fucked up! The purest soul I'd ever seen in my life was right there in front of me but it had been ripped and twisted and mangled by the hands of the purest evil I'd ever known!" Maka paused at this point to recompose herself and seemed on the verge of breaking down as I just had. "No one deserves to have that done to their soul, save the kind of person who'd do such a thing, and I know your soul hurts because I can see it and I hate that it hurts because it's not fair! All sorts of scummy souls are born into the universe every damn day; rapists, murders, pedophiles, serial killers, you name it. But! For some fucked up cosmic reason I will _never_ understand, out of all the souls that could've been born to endure Medusa's wicked hand, it was yours. It was your kind, gentle and timid soul that was forced to endure her sick whims and there are no words in any language that exist to express how utterly unfair that is."

Maka brushed her free hand over my heart while continuing to gaze down upon me, "and ever since then I've wanted to fix it because I think I'm the only person who can. I really care about you Crona and I want to see your beautiful soul soar the way it was meant to and I'll do anything to see that happen. I want you to be happy because you deserve to be. You're never happy Crona and it makes me sad. Even in death that fucking monster has you convinced you're lowly and that you're filth when that couldn't possibly be further from the truth. Even in death she still hurts you. That's how hard she broke you and I want to put you back together." Maka grabbed my hand tightly, "you have to understand Crona, those things that witch made you do don't make you who you are. I can see who you are, and who you are is beautiful."

I looked up at Maka's loving face, those eyes, those big green eyes; so honest, so pure...how could they look upon me and see no ugliness? Is this what it means to be loved unconditionally? I couldn't wrap my brain around the concept and I was at once afraid, and yet, so deeply relieved. I didn't understand it, but somehow I knew I did not need to, at least not yet. 

"...I'm so tired," I spoke weakly.

Maka smiled down at me, "come on," she said, "let me help you up to your bed."

As I rose, Maka put my arm around her shoulder and helped guide my weary form to my bed where I immediately passed out of sheer exhaustion both physical and emotional.

*** * * Present Day * * ***

"Vector plate."

I was thrown backwards mere seconds before I could behead Yuura with Ragnarok as a violet cloaked woman descended from the air before him, her back towards me.

"V-vector plate? That's one of Lady Medusa's techniques!" Ragnarok took the words right out of my mouth.

"Dorian! Get us out of here," Yuura uttered with as much strength as he could muster while reaching out to scoop up Apocalypse.

I heard a soft chuckle from the woman, and what followed filled my heart with utter confusion, and terror. "Nake, Snake, Cobra, Cobabara." Medusa's snake mantra. In a flash Yuura was gone, whisked away somewhere by this mysterious 'Dorian' who apparently had command over my mother's powers. Did this mean she could nullify the black blood like Medusa did all those years past? Just how deep does this go? The woman turned to face me as the rest of the camp finally caught up with the fight and filed in behind her.

"Mistress Dorian! Is Yuura-"

"He'll be fine," Dorian interrupted the pleading Weapon. Her voice was different than mother's; thin and with a slight rasp but still feminine. "I would never allow our master to be slain, however, he certainly underestimated our friend here." The mysterious woman's face was mostly obscured by the hood of her violet cloak save for her glowing yellow, serpentine eyes. "Kill him," she spoke softly and with that disappeared into the crowd of Weapons as they all rushed past her toward me at once.

I immediately snapped back to attention and hopped to my feet, splitting Ragnarok back into two broadswords I charged straight into the middle of the advancing horde. One broke from the front of the pack and charged ahead to meet me, his arms becoming scythes and reeling back to strike. Knowing full well I could just block the blow with the black blood I lifted my arm to deflect it.

_"Owe!" _Ragnarok shouted from within as I felt the nerves in my arm light up in pain.

"What the?!-" I heard laughter from above and shot a glance upwards to espy Dorian sitting above on a broom. _"She must be weakening you somehow Ragnarok,"_ I backed up and parried a second blow from my current opponent.

_"Yeah, no shit!"_ Ragnarok retorted. _"I can still manipulate and harden our black blood but something she's doing is limiting its effectiveness. Try not to get hit too much," _he explained.

_"Easier said than done!"_ I parried another blow with my off hand blade and went in for a thrust with my main but the weapon evaded my strike by turning into a scythe as another from the rear took him up as though he were a Miester. The rest of my assailants backed up as the new Meister twirled the scythe Weapon before him in a flashy display before swinging straight for me in an upward arc. I narrowly evaded and swung to his flank, my blades searching for his throat and vitals but he spun to face me and knocked each strike away with hasty but labored blows. He didn't have much stamina. I kept up the aggression, pushing him back, forcing him to constantly deflect my barrage of thrusts and slashes. It wasn't long before his defense faltered and I saw an opening "Screech Beta!" I shouted and let forth a strike, quickly he dodged to the right, I grinned; this was just what I wanted. His eyes lit up in terror as he realized his fatal mistake; he had ducked directly into my next swipe. In desperation he raised up his scythe to deflect the blow but the mouth of the Screech Beta tore directly though it, and into him, leaving two bisected corpses on the dusty earth.

A sudden sting of pain alerted me that something had struck me through the left calf and caused me to stagger as a second blow knocked me backwards and onto the ground. Two of my assailants dove towards my prone form but I managed to wrestle my blades into upright positions and caught them each in the throat, using their own momentum to tumble them harmlessly over me and roll myself back to my feet. As I rose I noted they were keeping their distance but maintaining a circle around me as dozens more kept filing in. There was no way I could take this many of them in a straight up fight. I took a deep breath. There wasn't any other choice now.

_"Ragnarok, get ready. There's no other option." _The sword of my black blood didn't need to say a word, he knew what I meant.

As the horde circled me once more I let out a sharp cackle and my eyes went wide as saucers. The sudden change in my mannerisms startled them, they hesitated. I broke out into a psychotic grin "you guys wanna see something real fun?" I asked in a hushed tone, my eyes darting to and fro. I could feel the madness of the black blood begin to swell up within me. There was no stopping it now. I let out another chortle then, without warning, plunged Ragnarok into my own stomach. The horde, almost in unison, took a shocked step back from me as I kept on laughing; the madness had fully taken me.

With a sudden shriek and jerking motion I slit my stomach open, exposing my cut intestinal tract. Convulsions began wracking through my body as Ragnarok sank back into me, chunks of blood and gore seeped out from me staining the dry earth of the desert. The Freemen before me looked on with faces of horror and disgust at the spectacle before them. "Ragnarok," I choked out between black blood-laden coughs, "Screech Resonance!" I opened my mouth and we let forth a screech in unison as our Souls multiplied over one another increasing our strength and control of the black blood at least a hundredfold and our consciousnesses began melding together to form a single being

With this sudden surge of power my intestines began to change form into a writhing, black, glistening mass. "Bloody Black Tentacles!" We shrieked as dozens upon dozens of blood-sucking tentacles wretched forth from my exposed stomach cavity attaching themselves to the backs, necks and wherever else they could latch onto of the remaining Freemen who were now fleeing in horror. The pain in my abdomen had changed into an overwhelming orgastic pleasure as the wracking convulsions throughout me grew ever more intense. We laughed and we moaned like a creature possessed, the convulsions cracking the bones and contorting the body into impossible angles. Once the serrated teeth of their leech-like mouths hooked into them the black tentacles began their grisly siphoning process.

Terrorful, pained screams filled the air mixing with our cackling and howling to form a truly awful cacophony of noise, then, as quickly as their screams began, they were all at once rendered sickeningly silent. Their bodily fluids were violently pumped from them en masse in what could only be described as a savagely sudden and painful death leaving only their dried and shriveled husks. With each sluggish pump I felt my body fill with more blood, more plasma, more souls and with that more strength. With a sharp snap, the tentacles withdrew back into me; the second stage had begun. I tensed as the convulsions reached their climax and the black wings of Nidhoggr erupted from our back and the blade emerged into our hands in Zweihander mode.

Our maddened conjoined consciousness was hardly even capable of words, and so, with a frenzied scream and a mighty beat of our wings we made a beeline straight for Dorian.


End file.
